How close are we to widespread robotic servants?

[Unorthodox]

! No longer available

Impressive.  Especially the stumbling correction and getting back up. 

But really limited use. 

I put widespread, because there's been gimmicky servants since the 80s. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Not close at all until one can walk around a strange room, carrying something it picked up itself, without bumping into things or stumbling.

[Rusty Edge]

Well, I have the feeling it has something to do with the cost of the alternatives. Sort of like the development of agriculture. It depends what's cheaper. Slaves? Draft animals? Machines? Immigrants?

I have a feeling that an open border and illegal immigration is keeping the cost of labor lower than robots, and therefore slowing the development. Of course, the cost of robots or whatever goes down with a larger relative supply, mass production.

Maybe it's my doll creep factor, but I think things would progress faster with a non-human approach rather than an automated man approach.  More K-9s, please! I tend to see dogs as friends who can basically do fetching and security tasks, but can also be designed and trained to  perform specialized tasks. They aren't creepy things trying to monitor us, or replace us, or rule us. They aren't out to steal our jobs.

I think the way forward is also in specialized rather than all purpose robots. We have a robotic vacuum that works pretty well once it has mapped out the room/furniture. Me, I would like to have a self-driving car, but I know most people are terrified at the loss of control, much like flying, only worse. So that one is down the list.

What about a doorman? They already have video chat screens for your front door that tie into your cell. That's not far from having the door unlock and open, too. Or a package door that would unlock when you greet the UPS guy.

I think cooking requires too many varied tasks, but I suppose that pre-prepared and coded meal products  could be moved from cold storage to microwave and cooked with modified appliances, so that you could phone home for dinner on your return commute.

How about some kind of mechanized laundry? Something that could take the clothes out of the dryer and hang them, or fold them? Or move them from the washer to the dryer and start a load?

Or how about a dishwasher that could push a washed and dried rack into the adjacent cupboard?

Anyway, there's room for smarter, more integrated appliances in the cooking/dishwashing/laundry areas. That wouldn't require a walking automaton with a self-contained power supply.  And maybe for a robodog who fetches and puts stuff back where it goes.

Anyway, robotics could advance rapidly when President Sanders institutes the $15/hour minimum wage. It doesn't have to look like a man to be a robot.

[Unorthodox]

It doesn't have to look like a man to be a robot.

At what point does something become a "robot"?

When working production I had machines that were able to completely automatically do a number of menial tasks with little to no user input.  Car assembly lines have machines do a lot of the tasks as well.  At what point does a machine, set to do the same task a million times become a robot? 

What about a doorman? They already have video chat screens for your front door that tie into your cell. That's not far from having the door unlock and open, too. Or a package door that would unlock when you greet the UPS guy.

The doors here at work read your badge and auto-open.  Does that make them robots?   (same basic tech as your shoplift gates at the local store, just reading the chip in your badge to open the door instead of turn on an alarm)

The elevator knows which floors you have access to.

[binTravkin]

Voted <10 years.
Both robotics (as in making devices that mimic some kind of human/animal ability) and general AI have made huge advances in last 10 years and some smart people think exponential growth is ahead.

[Rusty Edge]

I call those things with computer-controlled arms that paint cars robots.

So I guess my answer is "they are here already". I was looking at the question more in terms of robots in the home, doing tasks that people do,  since I already have a robovac,  as opposed to robots that do stuff for profit.

I guess that reveals another issue. I've never been comfortable with servants. I lived most of my life in a self-reliant produce my own food, dig up my own septic tank kind of way and it just seems awkward having somebody do what I can and should be responsible for. I believe in "created equal".
I just don't like the idea of telling somebody else to do something I'm responsible for, so a voice command servant or robot makes me think I'm lazy.

All of that said, I do appreciate drivers and waiters, but I see them more as consultants than servants.

[Elok]

Android-type robots (humanoid form) seem to have only niche or dubious prospects in the home.  Nature already invented and pretty near perfected a comparable device, and they're constantly being produced at low cost.  I doubt whether we will have robots of anything near human flexibility for the foreseeable future.

The main advantages of robots over humans are strength, stamina, and durability.  Which makes them great for industrial applications, and could someday make them nearly replace human soldiers on the battlefield (largely because nobody cries when a robot blows up).

[Unorthodox]

I call those things with computer-controlled arms that paint cars robots.

So I guess my answer is "they are here already". I was looking at the question more in terms of robots in the home, doing tasks that people do,  since I already have a robovac,  as opposed to robots that do stuff for profit.

I guess that reveals another issue. I've never been comfortable with servants. I lived most of my life in a self-reliant produce my own food, dig up my own septic tank kind of way and it just seems awkward having somebody do what I can and should be responsible for. I believe in "created equal".
I just don't like the idea of telling somebody else to do something I'm responsible for, so a voice command servant or robot makes me think I'm lazy.

All of that said, I do appreciate drivers and waiters, but I see them more as consultants than servants.

I'm not sure I would even classify the robovac as a robot, myself.  Memorizing a pattern is a little different than having to compute variables. 

Same with the computer arms.  They are just a series of if-then-else commands I was writing script for on a commodore 64.  It was a little shocking to see the same program I was using on a toy arm used at manufacturing plants at least till 2002. 

Now, the self driving cars...those are handling tons of variables. 

As for voice commands, the world is heading that way already with the phone 'assistant' crap that I don't use. 

(though I know what you mean, one of my problems with people around this company is a real 'that's beneath me' attitude problem)

[Unorthodox]

Maybe it's my doll creep factor, but I think things would progress faster with a non-human approach rather than an automated man approach.  More K-9s, please! I tend to see dogs as friends who can basically do fetching and security tasks, but can also be designed and trained to  perform specialized tasks. They aren't creepy things trying to monitor us, or replace us, or rule us. They aren't out to steal our jobs.

As you wish...(though this appears to be more a remote control vehicle than robot)

! No longer available

[Rusty Edge]

I remember seeing that one before, years ago.

It looks like it could climb up stairs and  run over uneven terrain, much like a sheep, although I'm not so sure about it going down...
I wonder if they've found any applications for it?

[Unorthodox]

Dunno, that video was in my news feed today for some reason. 

My son had a class project to build a rescue robot remote control that could climb stairs, carry 25 lbs (it was a 1/8 scale project), rise and deliver the package to a 4 ft level and return.  They used a wheeled design, but some other kids used a quadruped design. 

[Rusty Edge]

When I saw this, M.I.T. came to mind.

I'm guessing there are some ties between MIT and Boston Dynamics with regard to robot design.
I found a clip of a similar design from BD with a 2013 stamp, and a recent video from MIT of a robotic cheetah which leaps obstacles on a treadmill/conveyor belt.

I'd guess the robot is designed as a sort of "mule" to be used for military and search and rescue.
All of them seem to be a remote control quadruped on various terrains/weather.

At least the robovac can determine the perimeter of an obstacle and remember it.

What do you call something like this, a walking drone ?

[Rusty Edge]

stumbled across this story tonight ( the video in question was already gone )-


http://www.wsbradio.com/news/technology/googles-having-second-thoughts-about-its-robots/nqnXZ/
By Samantha Crook

Newsy.com
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. —
Google is reportedly breaking ties with the company responsible for making some unnervingly realistic robots.

Bloomberg reports Google's parent company put Boston Dynamics up for sale because it didn't see the company making revenue in the near future. Google was also concerned the robots might be freaking people out.

Bloomberg obtained the information from private emails and meeting minutes leaked by a company employee.

Since Google acquired the company in 2013, there's been speculation the advanced robots could be used against people or for military operations.

The company's most recent video of someone repeatedly hassling a humanoid robot also solicited some concern. Hopefully these robots never come up with algorithms for revenge.

A Google communications director said in an email: "We’re not going to comment on this video because there's really not a lot we can add, and we don't want to answer most of the Qs it triggers."

There's no confirmation on what companies might want to welcome these unique robots to their team.

This video includes an image from Getty Images and clips from Google and Boston Dynamics.

[Unorthodox]

! No longer available

Creepy head/claw/thing on this...